Letters

Palestinians don’t teach children
hatred

I would be interested in unearthing the sources Ziv Kaufman
relied on in writing “Mideast
peace hindered by education“ in last Thursday’s
Viewpoint (Daily Bruin, Jan. 10), if he used any sources at
all.

I doubt Kaufman has ever set foot in a Palestinian home, let
alone a Palestinian kindergarten where he claims one will easily
find a “little girl receiving applause for her kindergarten
teacher after singing, “˜I will grow up and become a suicide
warrior.'”

Insinuating that Palestinian adults deliberately put their
children and pupils at risk is not only ludicrous, it’s
downright racist, especially when he fails to cite a single source
or fact. Kaufman may be surprised to know that a November 2001
paper published by George Washington University states “the
Palestinian curriculum is not a war curriculum; while highly
nationalistic, it does not incite hatred, violence, and
anti-Semitism. It cannot be described as a “˜peace
curriculum’ either, but the charges against it are often
wildly exaggerated or inaccurate” (Nathan Brown,
“Democracy, History, and the Contest Over the Palestinian
Curriculum”).

Kaufman needs to get his facts straight — or get any facts at
all, for that matter.

Yara Dahud Fourth-year Sociology

Criticism of Dahle harsh, unfair

I felt the editorial “Dahle
needs to walk on to greater issues,” attacking USAC
representative David Dahle, was an awful, misinformed piece of bad
journalism (Daily Bruin, Viewpoint, Jan. 11).

Your editorial demonstrated the biggest problem with
today’s society: the way people complain and whine without
any idea for solutions. The truth is that the “rape
trail” is an important safety issue.

When criticizing a politician, you have to consider the extent
of his power. USAC as a whole has very limited power over matters
such as student housing and construction deadlines. Comments
regarding inadequacies in those areas should be directed to those
specific departments.

Student government representatives should work with, and make
the best of, what they have. Dahle’s concern about the rape
trail is only proof that he is addressing an issue he can tackle
given his position, in order to make the campus community a safer
place for students.

When your staff simply looks down on his efforts and arbitrarily
criticizes him, it is very discouraging and serves to accomplish
nothing. A more responsible staff would have commended
Dahle’s efforts and encouraged him to take on even greater
challenges.

Reza Kermani Third-year Physiological
science

Opportunities exist, minorities can succeed

Like most liberals who support affirmative action, Sophia Smith
most likely is from a middle class neighborhood and supports
affirmative action because she feels sorry for minorities who she
thinks cannot get into top University of California campuses
because the system is so racist (“History
inherently sets stage for institutional racism,” Daily
Bruin, Viewpoint Jan. 11).

I did not grow up as a child in a “privileged”
household. My family came to America when I was 6 years old with
nothing. My parents worked all day doing menial
work and I never saw them until late at night.

I attended magnet schools (schools that bus in all races to make
the school more diverse) and many of my classmates were minorities.
My parents forced me to study hard so that I did not have to live
the life that they did. My parents took many risks in business and
eventually succeeded. We moved to a better neighborhood, and I
attended one of the top high schools in California. So there are
many opportunities out there for what you call
“underprivileged” children.

Now I attend what Smith and many other people think is a good
school. But in reality, UCLA is becoming a sub-par school, because
of the lowering of standards in an effort to implement
affirmative action through various new policies without actually
having it.

What affirmative action supporters are failing to notice is that
there are truly qualified minorities out there; it’s just
that they choose to go to private schools who have the ability to
offer great financial packages ““ unlike UCLA and other public
schools.

Tairyun James Kim Second-year Business
economics